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IDG Ventures India, a $150 million early-stage technology venture capital fund, and Erasmic Venture Fund have jointly invested $3.5 million in Perfint, a Chennai-headquartered healthcare devices start-up company, with its development labs in Mysore. Of the total investment, IDG Ventures has funded $3 million, while the rest has been funded by Erasmic. Perfint’s first product PIGA is a tool positioner for image-guided minimally invasive (IG-MI) procedures. This will support applications such as fine needle aspiration (FNA), biopsy and radio frequency ablation (RFA) for diagnosing cancer tumours in the lungs and abdomen. The product which is under test deployment at five leading hospitals in India, has done about 100 clinical trials and is set for launch in January next year, according to the company. Perfint was co-founded in October 2005 by S Nandakumar, B D Vijaya and a team of healthcare devices professionals who were previously working with GE Healthcare at its design, manufacturing and sourcing hub in India, in October 2005. […]
India's largest real estate firm DLF is now all set to raise another $400 million through private equity route to fund its long-term investment plans. As per the deal, financial services major Merrill Lynch will get 20 per cent assured return and the debt will later get converted into equity. Merrill Lynch could pick up 49 per cent in 3-5 townships. The decision on the deal will be taken in mid-January after DLF’s real estate investment trust (REIT) listing is complete. Though the management continues to remain very tight lipped about the deal they are not denying it either. “DLF has a large number of residential, integrated townships and commercial projects in the pipeline. While the company is looking to list its commercial properties in a REIT these PE deals in residential projects are not only about raising funds,” said Ramesh Sanka, CFO, DLF. […]
VSNL has sold a 10 per cent stake in VSNL Lanka Ltd, its wholly owned subsidiary in Sri Lanka. The Tata group company has sold the stake to Sunshine Holdings, a Sri Lankan conglomerate, for about Rs 2.72 crore. Sunshine Holdings has interests in pharmaceuticals, travel & tourism, tea and rubber cultivation. It also manages portfolio investments. The Sri Lankan firm has bought 5.17 lakh shares, which accounts for 10 per cent of the paid-up capital of VSNL Lanka. It has an option to acquire an additional 5 per cent of VSNL Lanka’s share capital in the next 12 months at fair market value. “The partnership with Sunshine Holdings will enable VSNL Lanka to capitalise on the partner's knowledge of the Sri Lankan market. This is also our attempt to unlock value for our shareholders in an appropriate manner,” said Rajiv Dhar, CFO of VSNL. […]
Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Sequoia Capital are learnt to be negotiating with Ludhiana-based Nahar Industrial Enterprises (NIEL) to pick up 15-20% in its wholly-owned arm Nahar Retail for Rs 120 crore. Nahar Retail owns Cotton County retail chain, which has 400 stores all over. A deal with one of these three PE players is likely to be closed in a month’s time, a source said, adding that the company will go in for an IPO in 2009. The exact stake to be sold will depend on the company’s valuation, but it should be in the 15-20% region, he said. Nahar Retail, which started the Cotton County apparel retail chain three years ago, today has 400 stores in 300 cities. It plans to take it to 500 by this fiscal-end at an investment of Rs 30 crore. Nahar Retail, which clocked a revenue of about Rs 100 crore last fiscal, is targeting a figure of Rs 250 crore this fiscal. Meanwhile, NIEL, which is an integrated textile company present across the value chain from yarn to fabric and garments, has seen its share price move up rapidly, of late. […]
Leading foreign funds like Fidelity, ABN Amro, HSBC, Nomura Asset Management Fund and Emerging Market Fund have together bought around 7.5% in India’s third-largest cement firm India Cements (ICL) for Rs 592 crore. These funds have bought the shares in a placement done by the company to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). ICL issued 20.78 million shares at Rs 285 per share, including premium, to these QIBs. ABN Amro Securities (India) and Deutsche Equities India were the joint global coordinators for ICL QIB issue. After allotment, the paid-up capital of ICL has increased to Rs 281.16 crore from Rs 260.37 crore. The promoter holding in ICL has been reduced by 2% to 28.42%. […]
Chennai-based bulk shipping company Goodearth Maritime (GML) has raised Rs 260 crore from IDFC Private Equity (IDFC PE). o3 Capital was the sole adviser to GML for this transaction. The shipping carrier intends to use the money to fund a greenfield ship-building yard in Tamil Nadu and to make foray into the onshore and off-shore oil drilling sectors. “We are in the process of making Goodearth Maritime a global shipping company with a strong ship-building base in India,” said GML Chairman P B Anandam. […]
A slew of cash-rich private equity funds in the Arab world are looking at various investment options in India. If one goes by numbers, there are about 15 GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) institutions, with a fund size of $10,464 million (about Rs 42,000 crore), willing to allocate a considerable portion of the funds in Indian equities and other private equity opportunities. Shifting political scenario in America and Europe, post 9/11 and concerns of a probable slowdown in developed economies are encouraging Gulf-based investors to turn their focus to growth economies like India and China. “Robust GDP growth, requirement for huge investment in key spaces like infrastructure and real estate, high returns on equity are some of the reasons why Gulf investors are flocking into India. India’s legal framework which protects foreign investors is one of the best in emerging countries,” said Gulf-based Global Investment House’s senior vice-president and international investment head Shailesh Dash. Arab investors (from GCC countries) are interested in sectors like infrastructure, real estate , financial services, and logistics. […]
Japan's Itoh Oil Chemicals (ITOH) is picking up a 4.8% stake in Mumbai-based Jayant Agro Organics (JAOL), a leader in castor oil and castor derivatives. India produces nearly 70% of the world consumption of castor oil. Jayant Agro, an Udeshi group company, produces castor oil worth Rs 450 crore a year. Castor oil is used in industrial manufacturing the world-over as a value addition material. The board of Jayant Agro last week approved the issue of 6 lakh shares (4.76%) to the Japanese company for Rs 105 each. The total investment by ITOH, a leading manufacturer of castor oil derivatives in Japan, would amount to over Rs 6.3 crore. JAOL also plans to allot 1.3 million warrants to promoters at Rs 105. The board has also approved the issue of overseas convertible bonds for up to $20 million. The infusion of funds will be used for further expansion and setting up of new projects for higher value added derivatives. The company has already undertaken expansion of its crushing unit by 100% and its derivative unit by 25%. […]
There’s a new pecking order for private equity investors in India. Temasek, the Singapore government’s investment arm, has emerged as the largest PE investor in terms of investments announced this year, followed by the US-based Blackstone group. There’s a close race for the other top slots among Goldman Sachs, Carlyle, Citigroup and DE Shaw. Last year buyout major KKR and Providence were the top two PE firms investing in India. The total value of PE deals announced this year grew more than 100% to cross $17.14 billion. This includes three big deals announced by Temasek worth $2 billion, which would materialise only next year and it is possible that the final figure may be different. The list includes the 4.99% stake deal in telecom major Bharti Airtel worth around $1.9 billion (based on the market value on the date of announcement), the $55-million investment for 10% in Tata Sky and $26.5 million for a 27.7% stake in courier firm First Flight. According to data compiled by advisory firm Grant Thornton, the other big PE investor in India was Blackstone, which struck eight deals, some in quick succession, pumping in around $1 billion. Blackstone was involved in a couple of buyouts — Intelenet Global Services and Gokaldas Exports — apart from acquiring minority stakes in Eenadu Group and Nagarjuna Construction. […]
State Bank of Mauritius, the second largest bank in Mauritius, has approached the Mumbai-based Centrum group to buy into the equity of its flagship firm Centrum Capital. The move is in keeping with the bank’s new focus on expanding its reach and network in the Indian retail and financial services segment. Centrum Capital is active in the investment banking services and distribution of financial products sector. The firm had forayed into the local stock broking business almost four years ago. SBM had signalled its intention early this year when it acquired a minority stake in the Kolhapur-based private bank Ratnakar Bank. Sources close to the deal said the foreign bank was in talks with Centrum Capital to pick up a stake of less than 15% in the company. State Bank of Mauritius is believed to have valued this at close to Rs 1,800 crore which has been communicated to Centrum Capital, the sources said. The valuation may not be acceptable to the company. A senior Centrum official said: “State Bank of Mauritius approached us to acquire an equity stake in the company. However, we cannot agree with the valuation which they have given to us. We expect a much higher valuation because all our business are growing, Currently, we are in the process of restructuring our business operations and we will actively look for a stake sale after few months.” […]
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